


Vacation gone wrong

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Fun, M/M, Pining, RPF, Romance, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 05:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2801057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Colin goes on vacation to finally get some. Too bad Bradley is on the same plane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vacation gone wrong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merlocked18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlocked18/gifts).



> Just as I was about to get this ready for posting, desperately wanted to draw something. So she made art for this little story. Thank you so much, Merls! It turned out wonderful! You can either find it [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2796005) or wait until you reach it in the story ;)
> 
> Thanks, as always, to issy for the beta. Without you, the guys were Bunnish, not British ;)
> 
> This only ever happened in my head. No offense meant. Written for the RPF Mini Bang 2014 (thanks for organizing it, alby!) and for the fun of it.

"Thanks, Katie." Colin let himself be kissed on the cheek. "You shouldn't have..."

"Nonsense. You haven't been on a real vacation in ages, you deserve this. Now be a good boy and board the plane." Katie grinned widely when she pinched his butt.

"Oi!" Colin jumped. "So that's the reason you took me to the airport. You only wanted to make sure that I will not change my mind."

Katie didn't even pretend otherwise and nodded. "How often did you decide to rather take another role or look at yet another script instead of going away? You do need a break. And since you didn't get any in ages, I expect you to flirt with all the cute boys there. Here...," she rummaged in her huge purse and produced a package of condoms and a tube of lube which she shoved into his hands. "Now go and have some fun."

Blushing, Colin knew there was no need to argue. She was right, he needed a break; and if he found someone to spend some time with, that was perfectly fine with him. But he sure wouldn't go look for it! Oh well, maybe he would. Quickly, he stuffed the things into his backpack, put another smooch on Katie's cheek and waved with his passport and boarding pass before he went to the security checks.

 

Getting comfortable in his seat, Colin smiled. Just a few more minutes and he would leave the country. Not that this was anything too special, but it was the first real vacation he’d taken in a long time. No plans of rescuing the environment, no plans of trips to some remote parts of the country, just him, the pool, some books, the ocean and if he were lucky, a bloke or two.

Adjusting his headphones after fastening his seat belt, Colin leaned back and closed his eyes. His mind was still busy with the lastest scripts he had read just last night and the phone call with his agent in the morning about a new job when he would be back. Turning the volume up, the beat tried to chase all of his whirling thoughts out of his mind, even though he was really looking forward to working on ‘Good Omens’. Katie had been right, he needed a break and to get away from his life as a monk. Back home, he couldn’t just go out and find someone for a one-night-stand, his face was too well known and no matter how careful he was, there was always someone who recognized him. Going away was his only option. They had sat nights to find a gay-friendly place in a country where the shown hadn’t run, so chances of hoards of fans chasing him there were small. 

Just as he was about to fall asleep, someone dropped down in the seat next to him and Colin opened an eye and tried not to frown. 

“Cols! What are you doing here?”

Blinking, Colin sat up a bit, sure he had fallen asleep and was dreaming a weird dream while the plane was still boarding. It couldn’t be! “Bradley?”

“The one and only. Mind if I sit here? My seat’s actually over there, but it’s not like we are strangers.”

Bradley looked at him excitedly and didn’t even attempt to get up again. It wasn’t as if Colin hated him, but he had been looking forward to a nice undisturbed flight in the half-empty business class of the plane. 

“Not at all.” How could he be rude to Bradley? Sure, they were leading very different lives since the show had ended, but at some point they had been best friends. “How long will you stay?”

“Just one week. Man, I’m so ready for this. The last year has been hell.”

Nodding, Colin didn’t comment. He so wasn’t in the mood to discuss Bradley’s career issues and especially not his disastrous love life. 

“What will you do? The way I know you, you’ve already booked all the safaris to the jungle and the mountains and whatever. Will you go hiking?”

“Not sure yet.” No way would he admit to Bradley that the only things he wanted out of this vacation were a nice tan and some hot sex. 

They talked all through the departure, catching up, Bradley talking excitedly about a few probable projects and Colin had some amusing stories about the set of Legend to share. 

Even though it felt good to reconnect with Bradley, a tiny part of Colin hoped that he would stay at the other end of the island and not be anywhere near, so he could go through with his initial plans and he was happy that Bradley hadn’t asked about his hotel.

When they finally arrived, found their suitcases on the belt and then passed through immigration, Colin smiled. “Have a good time, Brad.”

“You, too!”

To his relief, Bradley turned to one of the busses that brought the tourists to their hotels while Colin had decided on taking a taxi. This way, he could keep his location secret, even though he felt a tiny bit bad about it. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to spend time with Bradley. But the times where he wanted to spend every waking minute and even the sleeping ones, too, with him, were long over. 

Actually, he should be grateful. Bradley was the reason he had finally admitted to himself that he was a lot more interested in men than in women. Yet, this didn’t mean he had to spend his vacation with him, did it?

After he had checked into his hotel and unpacked his bag, Colin tried to decide what to do. Should he wander around the resort, trying to find the gym, the pool and the breakfast room? Or should he take a first trip into town to check out where the best clubs were?

Relax. Katie’s voice piped up in his head. Smiling, Colin changed into swim trunks and a t-shirt, grabbed a towel, a book and his baseball hat and made his way to the pool.

++++

Arriving at the generous pool area of the resort, Colin found an empty deck chair and dropped his things onto it. The water was tempting, so he decided to take a swim first. He could still check out the blokes later. Sliding in, Colin sighed. The water had just the right temperature to cool off and after a moment, he started to swim. He hadn’t done that in a while and only now noticed how much he missed it. So he swam, just avoiding the few other swimmers, without looking left or right or even thinking about putting on a show. After a while, he swam back to where his deck chair was and pulled himself up at the edge. He shook the water out of his hair and then ran a hand through it to brush it out of his eyes. Damn, it was still way too short in the back. The next project he would accept after the radio thing sure wouldn’t be something that made them cut his hair like this! He quickly toweled off his arms and torso before he sat down on his chair to get comfy. 

Colin almost sighed as he closed his eyes. Yes, he was a workaholic, but this here must be close to heaven. 

Someone carefully cleared his throat right next to him and he blinked up to see the silhouette of one of the staff members. “Welcome to the resort. Can I bring you drink?”

Colin ordered something non-alcoholic – it was way too early in the day to start with cocktails and it was way too hot here to have alcohol anyway – and then reached for his suntan lotion. No matter how hard he tried, his pale Irish skin would never get a nice dark tan and he didn’t have to ruin his vacation by the mother of all sunburns. With determined motions, he worked the lotion onto his legs and then his arms, chest and shoulders, smearing the rest onto his face. That would have to do.

“Hi.”

Wondering when the waiter-bloke had switched from the formal ‘welcome to the resort’ to ‘hi’, Colin blinked up again and saw a young guy standing next to his deck chair. 

“Need help with your back?” The grin showed that he offered a lot more than just helping with the suntan lotion and Colin looked him up and down. The bloke wasn’t too tall but had muscles Tom would have been jealous of, he wore his hair down to his shoulders and had dark eyes. Not really his type, but not bad either. But did he really want to let himself be picked up by the first bloke he met here? Maybe there was someone a bit more…oh, Colin didn’t even know what, just…someone better? What a vain thought, but Colin couldn’t take it back now. Just as he opened his mouth to politely decline, he saw the waiter approaching from one side and a tall blond coming over from the other side. The blond snatched the glass off the waiter’s tray and came straight over to Colin, beaming widely.

“Here, your drink.” 

“B…Brad?” Colin stared open-mouthed. How could that be?

“The one and only!” Bradley took the bottle of suntan lotion out of Colin’s hand and squeezed some onto his hand. “I’ve got it, thank you.” He smiled a very fake smile at the bloke who was still standing there, looking just as confused as Colin. When Bradley started to rub the lotion onto Colin’s shoulders in strong moves, he turned and left. 

“What…what are you doing here?” Colin couldn’t help but notice how nice it felt to be touched by another person since it was something he didn’t allow often. 

When Bradley was done applying lotion to Colin’s back generously – “Have to make sure that you don’t burn like a toast.” – he pulled another deck chair close, totally oblivious to the noise that was making. “Isn’t this fantastic? We’ve ended up not only on the same side of the island, but also at the same resort!”

Even though it could have been worse, Colin wasn’t too delighted. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Bradley and it would probably be a lot of fun spending time with him, but that wasn’t what he had come here for. So he didn’t say a lot, let Bradley babble on and pulled his baseball hat a bit deeper into his face when Bradley started making plans of all the fun things they could do together.

+++

 

The first night, Colin was way too shot to do anything but sleep. They had gone to have dinner together and sat at the bar talking until Colin couldn’t hold the yawns in any longer. So he’d excused himself, wandered to his room and just crashed to sleep until the morning. When he got up, the world looked a lot brighter. It wasn’t too bad that Bradley was here, too. He could do his own things and once in a while spend some time with him and it would be almost as in the old times. 

Well-rested and in a good mood, Colin made his way to the restaurant that served breakfast. It wasn’t too nice to have breakfast on your own, but when he was done asking about the different things on the buffet and explaining about his dietary needs, he thought he could read the minds of the cooks and waiting staff and he felt like he made a lot of new acquaintances. Oh great, now he was the bloke with the weird eating habits. At least he got what he wanted and found himself a nice table. Chances of Bradley showing up this early in the day were slim, he slept in any chance he got.

Just like Colin had assumed, Bradley didn’t come down for dinner and not to the pool when Colin swam a few rounds and finally got to check out the blokes in the other deck chairs. There was a gorgeous one who reminded him a bit of Eoin and a red-head that already looked over and winked, but Colin just smiled politely and turned his attention back to his book. He read about 100 pages and then got bored. Not by the book, he loved this one and had read it a few times already, but he could read at home, couldn’t he? So he got up, grabbed his things and went back to his room to get dressed. 

A shower, a fresh t-shirt and some decent shorts later, he was ready to explore the town. There was a shuttle bus service that just arrived when Colin reached the stop. It was probably just half an hour of walking, but it was shortly after noon and way too hot to do that, so he climbed into the van and found that he was the only one in it. The driver immediately went into animated small-talk, telling him where to go first and which stores to avoid in broken English. Colin smiled and nodded at the right places and when they reached what seemed to be the entrance to a bazar kind of thing, he climbed out of the van, thanked the driver and smiled. The bloke most likely got money for everything the tourists he brought here bought. 

First, Colin just wandered through the labyrinth of small streets and enjoyed the sounds and smell that were so unfamiliar. It was the time of day where in hot countries life seemed to stop to take a break, the sun too bright, the heat bordering on unbearable, so the merchants in the little stores didn’t bother him too much when he just walked on and looked left and right. He wasn’t ready to buy anything, it was only his first day, he could still look for souvenirs to take back at the end of his vacation. 

A cramped little store held his attention, though. It had lots of beautiful jewelry which Katie would love, Colin just knew. So he got closer to get a better look. It didn’t really matter when he would get his souvenirs, right? And if he found something now that was just right for her as a little thank-you for making sure that he didn’t back out of the trip, that was fine. 

Colin nodded a friendly ‘hello’ to the young bloke at the far end of the store. Wow, not only the jewelry in this place was worth looking at. The man was tall, with big brown eyes – as far as Colin could tell without his eyes having adjusted to the relative darkness of the place – his skin a beautiful dark tone most of the locals had and short hair with curls. He smiled tentatively when he felt the man look at him. Was he mistaken or did the guy check him out, too? Could this turn into the encounter of his holidays? 

The man came closer and Colin noticed that he must be a bit younger than him, hopefully not too young, he didn’t want to end up in jail in a foreign country. 

“You see something you like?” The man asked with a heavy accent. 

Colin let his eyes wander up and down the guy’s body and nodded. “Yes.”

The wide smile and the wink that was answered with seemed clear enough, so when the man turned and gestured towards what probably was a tiny back room of the store, Colin followed, his fingers already searching for the condom and little lube package he’s stuffed into the pocket of his shorts. 

“Cols!”

That was like a bucket of ice water over his head, but Colin plastered a smile on his face and turned. “Bradley!”

“What are you doing here in the heat of midday? You should be at the pool, resting or swimming or something!” Bradley came into the store and completely ignored the man who frowned at him. 

“I got bored and thought I’d explore the town a bit.” Colin tried to throw the man an apologetic smile. He wasn’t very happy that Bradley had completely ruined his chance here. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still sleeping.”

“At this time of day? I already went for a swim and waited for you by the pool, but you didn’t show up.”

“And then you decided to come look for me?” Now Colin made a face. Bradley couldn’t really mean that! He didn’t need a watchdog or a nanny.

Bradley laughed. “No, dufus. I just thought I’d go see if I could get a few souvenirs. This here looks nice. Do you think my mom would like it?” He held up a bracelet.

“Looks like the one on the show, that phoenix thing, remember?”

Putting it down slowly, Bradley backed away. “True. Don’t have too fond memories of that.”

“It was just a prop!” Colin laughed. “It didn’t do you any harm!”

“I know, but…oh, you know what? We’ll just go find our souvenirs together, okay? So we can check it off our lists. Who are you going to buy for?”

Colin was torn between telling Bradley off – but he couldn’t do that without telling Bradley why and he definitely didn’t want to reveal the reasons – and coming along. It had been fun in France to browse the stores with Bradley, it would be fun here, too. And by the way the local bloke looked, he’d blown his chances for a quick shag anyway. So he shrugged and went along.

+++

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t enjoyed the time with Bradley. Au contraire. It was almost like in old times when they had discovered the wonders of a foreign land together, having fun with struggling with the language none of them had the slightest idea about and finding interesting things together and enjoying the views they found. They even ended up buying the same leather bracelet because they both liked it so much.

Colin was a bit angry, too, though. Mostly at himself. Once again, he had been too much of a Mister Nice-guy to tell someone else what he really wanted and use his time the way he had intended. After dinner and a few cocktails, he went to his room and let out his anger on his own cock, pulling it way harder than he usually did and when he finally came, he fell into a restless sleep.

When he woke up late in the morning, he nodded to himself. There were still a few days of his vacation left and if he played his cards right, this would be the day where he had enough time to himself to finally find someone interesting. He decided to skip breakfast to not accidentally run into his friend and waited on his balcony for a while until he was sure that Bradley was gone playing football or volleyball or was engaged in some other activity the resort offered. 

It hadn’t been his number one priority to get laid here, but the more time Bradley took from this quest, the more it turned into an obsession. It was like Katie had challenged him and he just couldn’t come back confessing that he had done about the same thing he had done all those years in France. Hung out with Bradley. He needed to put some distance between him and Bradley to be able to report a success once Katie asked. And she would ask. He just knew. She would probably ask that before she even said hello. 

Carefully, Colin checked out the pool area a while later. Bradley was nowhere to be seen. So he had been right that he was probably somewhere engaging in some sport the temperature was too high for. Colin occupied a deck chair with his towel and then just dived into the deep end of the pool. He knew he didn’t look half bad when he was swimming, so he could as well show off a bit. As he came up at the other end of the pool again, he noticed a few guys looking over. Good. Maybe this would work out as planned. He swam another few rounds before he pulled himself up at the edge where his deck chair was. Those damn biceps he had worked so hard for had to be good for something. Shaking the water out of his hair – in his mind he did that in slow motion like in the commercials – he reached for his towel to dry his shoulders and arms before he finally got comfy in his chair. Of course he had a book along but he knew he wouldn’t read a single word. But a book was also a good device to watch people over. And if they looked back, who knows, maybe…

So he let his eyes wander and yes, there were indeed a few really good-looking blokes around the pool. Tall, neat, rough, hairy, smooth, it was like looking at a catalogue. Colin carefully smiled at a dark blond guy, but he just nodded and then put on his sunglasses. Bummer. Then he looked directly at the man with the funny print on his swim trunks, who smiled back but then turned to get himself another drink. When Colin had tried to flirt with two more and failed, too, he gave up. Maybe his flirting skills were so rusty that he was too ridiculous for them. Not in a very happy mood, he fell asleep in the heat of midday.

When he woke up, he found most of the cute guys gone and hopped into the pool for a few more rounds before going back to his room. Bradley still was nowhere to be seen, so Colin hoped it would stay that way. Tonight, he would go to the best club in town and if he didn’t find someone he could get it on with, he’d serious doubt everything about himself and just go crazy.

Before, he ordered a light dinner from room service which he ate while carefully picking out his clothes. When had he packed this shirt? Oh well, it was perfect for tonight and went well with his light jeans.

+++

A few hours later, Colin was on the dance floor of the club and hadn’t felt that good in ages. Nobody knew him here, he could finally let go and be himself. The few whiskeys he had had probably helped, but he didn’t care, he had fun! And part of the fun was the giant of a man who danced with him. He reminded him a bit of Rupert, at least from the way he was built, and Colin was already looking forward to being buried underneath him.

The man – whose name Colin hadn’t even asked and didn’t want to know – danced so close that they practically rubbed against each other and Colin’s mouth watered in anticipation when he felt a hard cock through tight denim. So he still had it in him to make guys interested and hot for him. Colin almost laughed in delight. 

He felt a huge hand in his neck as the man pulled him close for a kiss. Yes! After all those months he would finally kiss someone. A total stranger he’d probably never see again after this night, but Colin didn’t care.

But before hot lips touched his, Colin felt a hand grip his upper arm and it took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t his dance partner’s hand before he got jerked away. 

“Cols! It’s late!”

Blinking a few times, Colin stared open-mouthed. What the fuck was Bradley doing here? He hardly noticed how his almost-lover threw him a dark look and vanished into the crowd as Bradley pulled him off the dance floor, babbling something about a field trip and that they both needed to be fit in the morning.

When he finally managed to utter a “What…?”, Bradley had maneuvered him outside and waved for a taxi. 

“The hiking trip! I met the guide at the hotel reception and saw your name on the list. Good thing I’ve met you here now or else you might have partied all night long and would have been tired in the morning. It’s not an easy hike up the volcano, you need to be in top form.”

Colin blinked and frowned and then blinked again. A hiking trip? Up a volcano? Oh…true, that was the only thing he’d booked in advance, thinking it would be nice to get some physical action in this time where he would mostly be in a deck chair. He groaned.

“You’ve forgotten about it, am I right? It’s only 2 am, you can get another 4 hours of sleep before we have to leave. Do you have your hiking boots along?”

It was only 2 am and he could have gotten a night full of great sex. Instead, Colin found himself in his bed alone, glaring at the alarm clock, knowing it would wake him up in a couple of hours. Fuck.

+++

Adjusting his backpack on his shoulders, Colin groaned. The sun was burning down on his face after he’d turned his baseball hat around so his neck could get some shade after the sun had done its work there. He was sweating like hell and his feet ached from climbing up this small steep trail on the side of the mountain. Why on earth had he booked this hiking trip? It was more torture than a few hours at the gym with his personal trainer and on top of it, it was just too hot. Would he ever be able to get his swollen feet out of his runners? 

“Are you okay?” Antoine, their guide, asked with that French accent of his. An accent that had been very appealing at the beginning of the day but it got more and more annoying the further up this stupid volcano Colin dragged himself. 

“Yes, thank you.”

“Do you need a break?”

Yes, Colin wanted to scream, but the rest of his group didn’t seem to mind the climb or the heat at all. Some of them even talked to each other while another one took photos whenever he could. “No, thanks. I’m fine. Just go ahead, I’ll yell if I get too far behind, okay?”

When they finally reached the crater, Colin dropped down on a big black rock. Had he been on his own, he would have quit this adventure about half way up the mountain and gone back to the pool. The only thing that had kept him going was looking at the guide’s tight arse all the time. It was a sight to see and Colin’s mind found quite a few ways he could have fun with it. 

He hardly listened when Antoine explained a few things about volcanos in general and this one in particular but it all sounded like sexual innuendo to Colin. Come on! Magma that gathered inside until the pressure got too much and then there’s a huge explosion to relief the tension and the top spewed out lava everywhere? He bit his lower lip not to chuckle like a twelve-year-old. Oh, did Antoine just wink at him? The day already started to look a lot brighter. If he would ever make it down that mountain alive, he would so hit on Antoine. If it were up to him, they’d send the group back and shag right there. 

“Here.” A bottle of water came into his line of sight. “You look flustered. Are you okay?” Bradley opened the bottle and held it out to him again, only happy when Colin took a deep drag. “Did you have breakfast? Or did you skip that again? You should eat regularly, Cols.”

Colin threw Bradley a look. He had the worst timing ever! 

“When we get back to the hotel, I personally take care that you get a decent meal. They must have something that even you can eat! And then you’ll get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow you’ll be as good as new.”

Colin was too irritated about the fussing to notice the smiles of the other participants of the trip and the little ‘aww’ from the only woman in the group.

+++

 

In the evening, Colin had been way too tired to go out, so after a wonderful meal with Bradley, he retreated to his room, read for a while and switched off the lights rather early. 

The next day, he was full of energy. For the first time, he’d wandered down to the ocean and after a little walk, just enjoying the waves licking at his feet, he found a group of young people playing volleyball and they invited him to join. Even though Colin had promised Katie to not get involved in any physical activity that wasn’t sex, he thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially since some of the guys showed interest in him and it was almost as if he could pick from a buffet. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he could have more than one and make up for lost time?

Laughing, Colin dropped into the sand next to the volleyball field. He opened a bottle of water and just enjoyed the cold liquid. The stocky bloke from his team, the one with the hair so blond they almost seemed to be white, sat next to him and they just looked at the ocean for a while. 

“It’s so beautiful here.”

“Have you been to the little bay right next to this?” The guy spoke with a heavy accent that could have been Danish or Dutch and pointed to the left.

“Not yet.” Was this a come-on? Because if it was, Colin was all for it, the guy was hot.  
“Wanna go?”

Wow, that bloke was forward, but Colin grinned and got up, brushing the sand off his hands against his shorts. He liked the way the man just asked for what he wanted. That was something he still had to learn. 

And he was right, the little bay they reached after they just rounded a formation of rocks was beautiful – and very secluded. Colin hardly got the time to admire the view before the bloke pressed him against a huge rock and kissed him. Oh yes, that was it. That was what Colin had missed in the past days. Someone to snog with. And someone’s hands on him. His cock sprang to full attention immediately. 

But before the bloke could even touch him there through his swim trunks, one of the girls yelled for them. They were needed for the next game.

His new friend drew back. “Too bad.”

“We should…”

“We could come back here later?” Even though it was phrased as a question, the look on the bloke’s face showed that he had every intention doing so.

Colin nodded and they made their way back to the field where he took a drink from his water bottle before he looked at the players again. There was an additional person around who hadn’t been there before they had left. And that person looked very familiar. Bradley.

Was he imagining the disappointed look on Bradley’s face? Might just have been the sun coming from a weird angle. 

“Let’s play.” Colin was on the same team with Bradley while his new friend, whom he sent looks and smiles, was on the other. 

The game was in full swing when Bradley hit a ball at the blond so hard that it made him fall over. 

“Hey!” Colin glared but Bradley didn’t look at him. 

The next chance he got, Bradley almost knocked the guy out, hitting the ball hard and aiming at his head.

“What’s wrong with you?” Colin shouted. “Cut that out, he didn’t do anything to deserve this!”

Bradley just frowned harder and stomped off the field. 

After Colin made sure that the bloke was okay, he went back to the hotel. His day was ruined, so he holed up in his room, sitting on his balcony with the feet up on the railing, wondering what made Bradley react like that.

+++

 

The last full day of his vacation came up clear and sunny and Colin decided to make the best of it. He would have to fly back home the next day and if he didn’t get any today, this vacation had been a failure. 

He wouldn’t wait for anyone to approach him today, he would be all aggressive, flirting all he could and just taking what he wanted. If he waited again, it would only give Bradley the chance to barge in and ruin it all like he had done all week with his horrible timing and his bad mood. What was wrong with him? Nobody could PMS for so long! Oh, screw Bradley, he would have some serious fun today.

Colin went to the pool, once again swam a few rounds, making sure that he looked as good as possible as he got out of the water and just smiled at a few blokes, but none of them seemed interested.

So he went into town, to all the nice little places he had been before and flirted a lot, but the men were all polite and nothing more. 

He checked out the beach, but the group that had been so friendly the day before turned rather mono-syllabic when he approached them. He wasn’t welcome here any longer. Too bad.

After a fantastic last dinner, Colin got dressed for the club. He would pull there, he was sure. Or this would be a heavy blow to his self-esteem. 

About a half hour after he arrived, Colin had set eyes on a tall red-head. He’d seen him before and he had signaled interest back then. So he danced close and enjoyed the attention. Oh yes, he still had it in him. They danced for a while, the redhead smiling widely, and Colin reached for the guy’s belt and pulled him along off the dance floor. Should he buy him a drink first? 

“Err…listen,” the guy started, “you’re really gorgeous and I’m flattered, but…do you really think you should do this?”

Colin blinked. “I’m old enough, I want to, so if you want it, too…?”

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?” What was wrong with this guy?

“To be honest, I don’t think you should cheat on your boyfriend.”

Colin thought he misheard that over the loud music. “Pardon? My…what?”

“Your boyfriend. About as tall as you, blond, fit, really cute? I don’t think you should do this to him. He’s really sweet and everyone can see he’s madly in love with you. He deserves better than being cheated right under his very nose.”

Who was the guy talking about? Oh…Bradley?

“If you still have a spark of love left for him, go, be with him. Love him the way he loves you. Don’t go about flirting with every man that comes your way. It only hurts him.”

“What…he’s…”

“The island is not that big. News travel fast. Everybody has heard about it and everyone who’s seen you two together knows.”

So that was why nobody wanted to flirt with him all day long. They all thought Bradley was his boyfriend! 

Later, he couldn’t even remember if he had said anything to the redhead before he stumbled out of the club. He needed some fresh air to clear his head. He felt like being punched in the stomach.

After a while of wandering about, Colin found himself on the beach, sitting underneath a palm tree in the cooling sand. The waves rolling in and the constant sound of the ocean were soothing.

 

 

Could it be true? Could Bradley be in love with him? That was something he had so hoped for to happen in the early years of making the show. But Bradley had sent mixed signals, dated a lot of girls and more than once cancelled their movie night in favour of playing football with his friends. It all had changed when the knights had come in anyway and Colin had withdrawn, knowing he was barking up the wrong tree. 

Even though he tried to convince himself that it would never be, he never seemed to be able to get over it. He never was able to get involved with anyone in the long term and had built a wall around his heart that seemed to be waiting for something. 

Colin didn’t even startle when Bradley sat down in the sand next to him.

“I’m an arse.”

“Tell me something new.”

“I’ve ruined your vacation.”

“You cock-blocked me every chance you got.” 

“Was there a chance I didn’t get?”

Colin sighed. “No.”

“Good.”

“Good?” Colin wasn’t so sure about that. 

“Yes,” Bradley nodded, “good.”

“Why, Brad? What is it you want?”

There was a long silence in which Colin wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear Bradley’s reasons or even what he wanted himself. 

Bradley swallowed audibly. “Something I won’t get. Someone I won’t get.”

“How can you be so sure about that?” Colin had buried his feelings for so long and now they all resurfaced again, which was confusing. 

Leaning back on his hands, Bradley looked up into the night sky. “You did everything you could to shake me these past days and get it on with lots of blokes. Just not me. Never me.”

“Is that all you want? To shag me?” There were times where Colin had shed his clothes immediately when hearing that.

“No, but it seems to be all you want lately. You’ve never stayed longer than a night or two with anyone, never wanted to share more than physical exhaustion and satisfaction.”

Colin let out a bitter laugh. “Maybe I wanted it but never found it?”

“And that’s why you go on a fuck vacation?” Bradley didn’t look at him but Colin could hear the anger in his voice.

“Listen, Brad, I live almost like a monk at home. Why can’t I get some while being away?”

There was a long silence before Bradley spoke again. “I’m jealous.”

“There is nobody to be jealous of. So what is it exactly that you want, Brad?”

“You, Colin. Just you and me. Exclusively.”

Colin didn’t know what to say. Never in this lifetime had he expected to hear something like this from Bradley.

“I know I’ll never get this, so…I’m sorry for doing what I did. I’ll leave you alone from now on.” Bradley got up.

“Don’t! Just…since when, Bradley? Did you wake up one morning deciding it was time to want me? After all these years?”

Shaking his head, Bradley just stood there, looking out at the ocean. “From the very first moment on. The moment you walked into that stupid room for a read-through with your fucking side-burns, your unruly hair, that stupid too-large red hoodie and the smile on your face that lit up my whole life.”

Colin snorted. “I looked like crap that day.” He didn’t even remember what he had been wearing and he’d totally forgotten about the side-burns, but he remembered being nervous as hell and totally smitten by his new co-worker.

“You were gorgeous.” Bradley stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and turned to walk away.

“Don’t go. There’s…there’s something you should know.” Colin wasn’t sure if he should reveal that to Bradley now. But he had been honest with him, so he at least deserved the truth, too, wherever it would take them. “I fell for you that day. Told my mom I had met the man of my dreams.”

Bradley looked at him. “But you’ve never…”

“How could I? You were always out with girls or playing macho sports with the other actors.”

“We’ve spent a lot of time together, did a lot of things. Just you and me.”

“Yes…” Colin scrambled around so he sat cross-legged and his fingers started playing with the sand. 

“You never showed anything more than friendship.” Bradley closed the distance he had brought between them and sat down again. “I thought you weren’t even…until you showed up with…”

“Eww…don’t remind me of him.” Colin shuddered about that short irritation by the name of Michel. “I…Bradley, how could I have said anything? We were working together, you did your guy things…it would have ruined the show if I had said anything and you’d rejected me.”

“Same here. The more I fell in love with you, the harder I engaged in sports and pretended to be a macho arse.”

“You are a macho arse.” Smiling, Colin nudged Bradley’s arm. “So…what are we going to do with all these truths now?”

“I don’t know. What do you want to do with them?”

Colin looked at Bradley and thought he’d never seen his friend so open and vulnerable before. “I’m so not going to have sex on this vacation, but…”

Bradley’s face fell and Colin scooted a bit closer. “How about this?...Hi, I’m Colin Morgan. I find you very attractive and I would like to kiss you now.”

Chuckling up a laugh, a huge smile spread across Bradley’s face as Colin cupped his cheek with a sandy hand and leaned in for a soft kiss.


End file.
